Yates named starter, Renner on his heels

It is not often that a quarterback who is within a stone’s throw of his team’s all-time passing mark has to fight for his job. T.J. Yates had to do exactly that during this year’s training camp.

After an old-fashioned quarterback battle, Yates once again was announced the starter for the 2010 season.

North Carolina head coach Butch Davis split first-team repetitions between Yates and redshirt freshman Bryn Renner for all of training camp.

“People forget that T.J. Yates has won some very big football games for this team,” Davis said. “He’s played well at times during the course of his career. During his first season, he was the most efficient quarterback in the ACC.”

Last season, when robbed of the safety net of standout receivers Hakeem Nicks and Brandon Tate, Yates struggled. He threw 15 interceptions, including costly picks in the fourth quarter of losses against N.C. State, Virginia and Georgia Tech.

Lost in those numbers is the fact that Yates now sits just 2,796 yards short of Darian Durant’s 8,755 UNC-career passing yard record.

To put that into perspective, 34 NCAA quarterbacks threw for more than 2,796 yards in 2009. If Yates can come out strong, he could very well end up with UNC’s passing record.

That is why there is nothing Davis or offensive coordinator John Shoop can say to Renner to give him the experience that Yates has earned in three years on the ACC gridiron.

“He’s the beneficiary of thousands of reps,” Davis said. “There’s not a lot our defense can do from a disguise standpoint that can trick him, trap him into making some bad decisions.”

At the same time, the fact that Yates’ job came under fire at all speaks volumes of Renner’s talent.

Renner announced his candidacy for the starting quarterback job with a strong spring performance that included 184 yards and a touchdown.

Despite their competition, Yates has gone out of his way to make Renner feel comfortable and ready to contribute coming off his redshirt season last year.

“I think T.J. took Bryn under his wing when Bryn was a true freshman,” Davis said. “He brought him in, sat with him watching film and talked to him about the scheme, the offense, the reads.”

Even though Yates is clearly Renner’s mentor, he admits that it is difficult to avoid looking over his shoulder to see his protégé catching up to him.

“He works extremely hard and I’ve never been pushed as much as he pushes me this offseason,” Yates said. “That kid works hard every single day, day in and day out.”

“This is what I know,” Davis said. “If T.J. Yates is the starting quarterback this season, he gonna play real good. Because somebody’s pushing him to become an excellent player.”